04 Dec 2008
Well, Murdoc Online is running its first-ever contest. The prize?
A one year membership and subscription (6 issues) to
Air & Space Smithsonian magazine
Here’s a sample from earlier this year:
The Bone is Back
Too trouble-prone for nuclear alert and sidelined in the first Gulf War, the B-1 is today the busiest bomber in the fleet.
By David Noland
Air & Space Magazine, May 01, 2008
It’s one o’clock in the morning on December 17, 1998, a cool crystalline night at Thumrait Air Base in the Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman. Two Rockwell B-1B bombers idle on Runway 17. Cleared for takeoff, the first jet begins to roll, its afterburners washing the rocky desert landscape in a faint orange glow. Quickly gathering speed, the Lancer lifts off the runway and banks into a sharp turn to the right, heading west. Forty-five seconds later, the second B-1B follows. The two jets join up in a loose formation and turn north into the starry blackness.
For the B-1, this is an historic moment: the long anticipated first combat mission of the complex, expensive, and oft-maligned bomber delivered to the Air Force 13 years earlier. Born amid controversy in the 1960s, twice canceled, and plagued early by technical problems, the B-1 had seemingly gotten lost in the shadows—caught between the Boeing B-52, the iconic bomber of the past, and the Northrop B-2, the stealthy bomber of the future. In 1990, the B-1 had suffered the ultimate humiliation: staying Stateside during the first Gulf War, while the plodding, antique B-52s answered the call to duty.
But now, in Operation Desert Fox, the four-day 1998 air campaign against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the B-1 was finally getting a chance to prove its worth.
Rules and entry instructions below:
Contest Rules:
- Magazine will only be mailed to US mailing address. Sorry. No exceptions.
- Murdoc’s immediate family cannot enter.
- Please enter only once.
- Sending Murdoc cash is permissible but will not improve your chances of winning.
- If (and only if) you win you will have to give me your real name and mailing address.
- Winner will be chosen randomly and all results are final.
- Entries must be posted to the site by 2359 hours ET on Wednesday, 10 December 2008
- I can’t think of any more right now but I’ll add them if I do.
To Enter:
- Leave a comment on this post.
That’s all there is to it. Leave a comment and I will have a winner chosen from all entrants using the Random Integer Generator at Random.org. If the random number 37 and you have the 37th comment on the post, you win a one-year gift subscription to the magazine and membership benefits. Simple as that.
Please, only one entry per person. Murdoc is trusting you on this.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Great place for uptodate infor and interesting articles. Keep up the good work.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Comment.
:>)
December 4th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I’m in. I’ve been a fan of your blog for quite a while, even though I don’t always agree with your positions. Keep up the good work.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:00 am
*raises hand* ooh! ooh! pick me!
December 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Nice article on the Bone. One of my friends and Academy classmates flew that same airshow routine with the inversion at the end (on youtube as referred to in the article) at Edwards AFB back in the 90’s when we were both there. I’ve always loved the B-1 design and have been happy to see it finally get the respect it is due.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Had a friend that was a B1 hydraulic mechanic at McConnell AFB. He had some great B-ONE stories ( including one where he dropped a tool inside the skin).
December 4th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I had a charter subscription to the magazine when it first came out in the ’80s, but dropped it for some reason in the ’90s.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I feel his pain. I once dropped a piece of an SSTG (generator) deep down into the bilge. We were scheduled to get underway in a few hours after that. That was an interesting swim…
December 4th, 2008 at 11:00 am
There’s something to be said for the high-speed dash capability the BONE brings. It might not be as cost-effective as the BUFF for this counter-insurgency stuff, but it can get to the fire in a hurry.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Great mag! As for the BONE, during Desert Storm we referred to it as the largest piece of AGE in the USAF inventory. (i.e. it just sat on the ramps).
I was on B-52s at the time.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
luck luck luck!
December 4th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The Bone rules!
December 4th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
OK, I’m in. One reply.
Now if you had a similar contest for “Zombie Fighter Quarterly” I’d definitley cheat.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
OK, I’m in. One (more) reply.
Now, if you had a similar contest for “Golf Digest”, I’d definitely avoid misspelling “definitely”
December 4th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Ok – you must be getting a little desperate to see if people are actually reading your work. I will give it to you though, you got me out of my RSS reader and onto the site to enter the comment.
December 4th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Clever of you to post this during the UPS Christmas rush…but your clever plan failed!
I posted…bwahahahahaahahahahah!!!
December 4th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Cool!
December 4th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Great work on your blog. Keep it up.
December 5th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Good luck to all and go Air Force!
December 5th, 2008 at 1:37 am
A free subscription to favorite magazine? I’m in.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Great site, Great Mag. I’ll enter.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I’m entering! >D
December 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Lookin’ GOOD, Bone drivers…
December 5th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I’m in. Can it be mailed to my cardboard box underneath the interstate?
December 5th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I’m in too.
December 6th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Having the opportunity to have been in on the ground floor when the B-1B was first introduced into the USAF at Dyess AFB, Tx, I don’t care what the media said then or now…..you’ll see it after your dead. Rock on BONE! We did prefer HAWK though, Holiday And Weekend Killer! LOL
December 10th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I enjoy this site. I’m in.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Sure, what the heck….
I can always use some more reading material. :)
December 11th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Ok, 26 year Air Force veteran, sky cop, grew up next to the Chino Airport Planes of Fame Museum, need I say more?